Psychology of Gay Baby Boomer and Gen X Men Who Never Got a Tattoo

May 27, 2026 | A lot of men from the Boomer and Gen X years went their whole lives without a single tattoo, and for gay men there's a real psychology behind that clean skin. Here's the strange part: for a long stretch in the Seventies and Eighties, gay men dressed exactly like the most heavily tattooed men in America — the sailors, the bikers, the working men — boots, denim, moustache and all, and skipped the one thing those men carried on their arms. This is the reason so many of them stayed ink-free, and why the bare skin was a statement all its own.

Well, for you all to know, this baby boomer has no tattoos and no piercings. I loathe tattoos: they are an assault on my very developed sense of aesthetics. There is nothing beautiful or attractive about them; moreover, they look low-class. Why anyone should wish to disfigure himself with a tattoo is completely beyond my comprehension. And even worse than a man with a tattoo is a woman with one! Ugh!

As for piercings, I am not a fan, though I will admit that sometimes, on the right man, one SINGLE earring can look attractive, if the earring is of a very high quality, like solid gold, a flawless diamond, or a high quality pearl. Junk jewellery will not do. More than one adornment on a man looks tacky.

I will be glad when the trend for tattoos will be well and truly OVER. Ever since I was a young man, I promised myself one thing: When the day comes to leave this world, I want to leave to meet my Maker the way I came into this world: with clean skin! — © Mark Alexander